Australia today suspended its plan to reopen its borders to students and skilled workers, citing uncertainties that still exist about the risk and transmissibility of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
After an emergency meeting, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the long-awaited opening of the border would not take place as scheduled on December 1, and would be postponed for at least two weeks.
The country’s borders have been closed to the majority of foreign nationals for more than 20 months, a decision that has caused a shortage of manpower and severely affected the vital tourism sector.
Morrison described the postponement of the border opening as “necessary and temporary”, on the basis of medical recommendations.
Australia has identified five infections from the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in passengers from countries in southern Africa.
“The temporary suspension [του ανοίγματος των συνόρων] “It will allow Australia to gather the information we need to better understand the Omicron variant,” he said.
Morrison cited new concerns about “the effectiveness of the vaccine, the severity of the disease, including whether it can cause milder symptoms, and the rate at which it is transmitted.”
Last week, Canberra announced that international students, skilled workers and holiday-work visa holders could come to Australia again from 1 December.
The government lifted restrictions on travel abroad for Australians in October, but flatly refused to ease restrictions on non-Australians, a decision that left some 1.4 million visa holders trapped in Australia without the possibility of return. if they decided to leave the country.
On March 20, 2020, Australia imposed a border closure of some of the strictest in the world to protect against the Covid-19 pandemic.
Tens of thousands of Australians living abroad could not return home for 19 months. Flights were rare and Australians allowed to return had to undergo a strict 14-day quarantine at a hotel.
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